Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Easton Cowan has just wrapped up his junior career, and may go down as the best London Knights player of all time. That’s quite the feat, given the plethora of superstar NHLers the Knights have churned out.
Cowan's impressive junior resume features two OHL Championships, a Memorial Cup, as well as one OHL MVP Award, one OHL Playoff MVP Award, and one Memorial Cup MVP Award.
After seeming like a reach when he was drafted 28th overall back in 2023, Cowan has proven everyone wrong and become one of the top prospects in all of hockey.
The question remains, should the Toronto Maple Leafs trade their top prospect in order to improve their already strong roster, or do they keep him around for the long haul?
Arguments for trading Cowan
Just this past Sunday, Cowan led his London Knights to the 2025 Memorial Cup, earning MVP honours. After yet another phenomenal OHL season, his trade value may never be higher.
Cowan, recently turning 20, is still young and full of potential, as well as having yet to have made his NHL debut. He could easily come in next season and have an immediate impact, a la Matthew Knies back in 2022-23.
However, he could just as easily stumble out of the gate and never really find his footing in the NHL, like a Nick Robertson type of player, another OHL superstar and former Leafs top prospect.
Listen, I think Robertson is a fine player, but would you rather have Cowan be the second coming of 'Nicky Bobby', or be moved in a package (or even on his own) for a true #1 defenseman? I think most people would choose the latter.
The Leafs are still right in the middle of their cup window, with both goalies locked up for next year, as well as most of their d-corps. They only have so many years left of contention, and trading Cowan to get over the hump may be the right decision.
Arguments against trading Cowan
The Leafs have one of the thinnest prospect pools in the entire NHL, as aside from Cowan and fellow OHLer Ben Danford, not many names jump off the paper with much of a "wow" factor.
Topi Niemela and Roni Hirvonen have yet to make the jump to the show despite being drafted five years ago, Fraser Minten and Nikita Grebenkin were moved at the 2025 Trade Deadline, and outside of Matthew Knies, not one regularly dressed player in the playoffs was under 25. The next closest was the aforementioned Robertson, who at age 23 managed only three playoff games.
The Leafs core is still in their prime, but most of the supporting cast is already 30, or far past it.
The Leafs integrated Matthew Knies into their lineup when he was just 20 years old, and had a very successful first playoff run in 2023, Cowan could very well do the same.
Another Leaf who made the jump from the OHL's Knights and had a successful first year was Mitch Marner, who has a very similar junior resume to Cowan's. Now to be fair to Marner, he made the jump right to the NHL at age 19 and had a very strong 61 points as a rookie, where Cowan took his 19-year-old season to play in the OHL again.
But their are plenty of similarities between the two, and Cowan could easily be a top rookie in the NHL next season if given the chance to succeed.
Final Verdict
In short, I think the Leafs should only trade Cowan if they can get a superstar in return. I'm not saying Cowan alone will get Cale Makar or Thomas Harley, but trading him straight up for a third liner with "grit" is an awful idea.
We'll never truly know how Cowan will be at the NHL level until he gets there, but if the Leafs want to move him for a massive return, now is the time to do so.